Sunshine Sidestories
by Silver Queen
Summary: Snippets from the D.O.S. story line.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Sunshine Sidestories

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form.

Summary: Snippets from the D.O.S. story line.

AN: If you haven't read Dreaming of Sunshine, then these will make no sense at all to you. This is a side story for Chapter 41, Itachi's POV.

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The Jinchuriki is there. Itachi doesn't want to catch it, not yet, not ever, but they had gone to Konoha for information on it and not acting will cast suspicion on that.

Itachi is trapped by his own actions.

It isn't an unfamiliar situation.

One day it might even be funny.

They scout out the hotel and might have even fallen for the Shadow Clone if Uzumaki had any knowledge of how to hide his chakra. The evasion trail is good - for a Genin - but Itachi has been better than that since he was eight years old. It's the work of an instant to track him.

Track _them_, it turns out, which is slightly unexpected. Uzumaki can't hide his chakra, but the girl can. Interesting, but not threatening.

Given that he knows how Konoha structures it's teams, with Uzumaki and Sasuke on the same team it's easy enough to place the female as their third. With dark hair and dark eyes, slim and compact, she could be a member of any of a dozen clans or none at all. She could have even been an Uchiha before the whole clan was dead at his hands. In the grand scheme of things, she is unimportant.

She's clever, though. He'll give her that. She never takes her eyes off him, has him pegged as the greater threat without even looking at Kisame. Her fear is obvious, as obvious as that of the Jinchuriki who stands frozen, but she talks. Cajoles him into conversation. Stalls for backup that may or may not come.

He gives the information over easily even though there really is no need. It suits his purposes well enough. She makes leaps of logic that he doesn't expect and he is glad. Sasuke is in good hands here.

And then Sasuke comes.

The flare of desperate panic in her eyes would have given him away even if Itachi had not heard every step his brother made for the last three blocks. Hadn't been able to count his breathing for the last two.

He wants to turn and look so very badly. He doesn't dare. Doesn't quite trust himself to hold the façade just yet. "Sasuke. It's been a long time."

And Kisame just has to poke. Has to stir the bubbling rage that is his baby brother until he overflows. Itachi can't think whether to be angry or grateful. Sasuke is _supposed_ to try and kill him.

And he does. It's a spectacular failure, of course, but he tries. Chidori is a good jutsu, but it is only a jutsu and a technique is only as good as the one who wields it. In Kakashi's hands it would worry him. In Sasuke's it is laughable.

Kisame deals to the Jinchuriki and Itachi evades the shadows that try and snare him. _Nara?_ He approves of their timing. The three of them obviously work well as a unit. However, it isn't good enough.

But what Sasuke has done is cause a scene. The clock is ticking now. Time is running out.

"Foolish little brother," he says, the only endearment he will allow himself, simply because he knows how much it will irritate Sasuke. How much it will enrage him. "You're still too weak. You don't have enough hate. And you know something? _You never will_."

Sasuke is on him like a berserker, all fury and no thought. _That_ will not do at all. That will only get him killed and Itachi has worked too hard for his brother to die from foolishness.

He slams Sasuke into the wall, sets the technique, and opens his eyes.

He has the brief chance to glimpse eyes that. Are. Not. His. Brothers.

_Genjutsu? Against me?_ Is his first - ludicrous - thought. The body he is holding is no longer Sasuke.

But genjutsu doesn't work against the Sharingan. Certainly not against the Mangekyo.

He tries to pull back, but it is too late, the Technique is already cast.

And then she starts to scream.

It isn't the short scream of fear or brief gasp of pain. It is a scream he has heard before, when he was young and on the fields of war. It is the slow dying scream that echoes forever in your head. The long drawn out wail of endless pain.

Once, when he was a Genin, Itachi killed an enemy with a Fire Jutsu. It seemed logical at the time, in the _rushnow _of combat, but the man took _so long_ to die, and he screamed the whole time as the flames licked his body.

Since then, he had killed fast, brutally yes, but never slow. If asked, he will say it is efficient, that he does not give them time to react or retaliate.

In reality, he does not wish to give them time to scream.

He drops her as though he is the one burning and turns. There is Sasuke, crouched on the ground, torn from his grasp. And Sasuke is furious, broken arm or no. But the berserker rage has faded to some anguished uncomprehending guilt. Sasuke looks eight, once more.

_Foolish little brother. You aren't ready yet,_ he thinks fondly. Impossibly fondly. He must love Sasuke, or everything has been for naught.

And if there is a coil of resentment, of pure black hatred, well, it's for the act.

But if Sasuke has caused a scene then this is worse. Screams attract attention. Particularly screams of young girls. Jiraiya is suddenly there is a whirl of Body Flicker speed - the woman they'd sent to distract him draped across his shoulders.

Itachi does not, particularly, wish to tangle with one of the Sannin. _This_ one, least of all.

Jiraiya looks _furious,_ in the way only a battle ready shinobi can_._ His face is set, chakra honed and ready and he makes no declarations. It has been many years since Itachi has even registered Killing Intent yet he feels it now.

It makes him… mildly uneasy.

"Kisame," he says. "Let's go."

The girl is still screaming.

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"You might be wrong about your brother, you know," Kisame says later with a sly glance. "If he's willing to sacrifice a comrade like that. You sometimes saw things like that in Mist, but I didn't think a Leaf nin would have the guts."

Itachi stares at his hands. It has been a long time since he has made a mistake like that, since he has hit the wrong target. Sasuke had been helpless under his grip, chakra disrupted by pain. He had not cast the jutsu; had not been able to. "You have it the wrong way around," he says distantly. "The girl was the one who used the replacement jutsu."


	2. Chapter 2

Just a quick scene to expand on Kakashi's Land of Snow ANBU flashback. Ties in with chapter 49, but again, you don't have to read this to understand the main story. I'm not entirely sure whether Kakashi's mask has ever been canonically stated - I've seen Dog, Hound, Wolf etc - but I went with Wolf.

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At first Wolf thinks they have been spotted.

It is, after all, a reasonable assumption. They are foreigners here, spies and scouts, looking for information that is kept under tight lock and key. Kazahana castle, according to both reports and their preliminary analysis, was a peaceful place with only the barest of guards. Any deviation in that routine could be laid at their feet.

But Wolf is confidant in his abilities and those of his ANBU team. It is laughable to think they have been spotted. They have not been targeted or chased. The 'response' is neither localised where they going or where they have been.

Therefore, the Snow ninja are here for another reason. What that reason is, he doesn't know, but for now his team still has the advantage of secrecy.

"Let's go," he murmurs, whisper soft. They're in too far to retreat without notice, and there are ninja by the dozen swarming the entrance doors. Their mission is purely an information gathering one, and with no explanation he is reluctant to get involved. They do not know who, or why, or how many or how strong… too many variables. Too much unknown.

They are as ghosts through the halls, but it does not last. The first Snow ninja that comes across them dies with surprise still etched on his face. The second does not last much longer. The third manages to scream. The fourth casts a jutsu and Wolf dodges the shards of ice with contemptuous ease.

"Things are starting to burn," Bear says, the subtle tilt of his mask that means he is sniffing the air.

Wolf had noticed it too. The sharp arid tang of burning wood. It isn't moving fast yet, but it will. Fire is like that. Raw. Consuming.

"The east exit," he says. That will be the direction that gives them the most chance of getting away. Sheer cliffs and winding roads. The furtherest from the new comers. They have already been this way, searching for the Daimyo's hidden inventions.

They move.

Something catches his attention as they pass through the halls. It could be the scent of blood, the way that light catches on the mirrors, the muffled chakra or light breathing… any and all of those things could catch his attention, but something does.

Kakashi hasn't survived this long - as a ninja, as Wolf - by ignoring his instincts.

He changes direction, the team following wordlessly, faithfully.

The princess is crouched behind the shattered mirrors, sobbing. The Daimyo's dead body sprawled across the ground.

"The princess," Bird says, a note of breathy wonder in her voice.

An assassination or rebellion… something of the sort clearly. The Daimyo is dead.

The Land of Snow is not their ally. They have no obligation to the princess. None at all.

He is Wolf. He has more blood to his name than most people could fathom. Has been a ninja longer than the rest of his team put together. He is a naked blade, an assassin by name and choice and necessity.

But something in his chest aches.

He remembers being six and standing over his fathers dead body, feeling only the emptiness he can see reflected in her eyes.

"We'll take the princess with us," he says, some half formed plan stirring in his head. She'll slow them down, prevent them from fulfilling their mission. It will be difficult…

But no one protests. There is a slump in Bird's shoulders that says she is relieved.

And now that the decision has been made, he must get the girl. Awkwardly, he crosses the room. "Princess."

She flinches, stares at him. "Chichi-ue," she whimpers.

_Brr, ANBU,_ a half remembered voice floats through his head. Obito. Obito had _always_ had something to say. _Their masks creep me out so much._

Wolf - Kakashi - flicks the visage of the snarling wolf to the side. Against code, against all mission directives, but he doesn't care. "Princess, you must come with us."

She doesn't protest, beyond making the same small sounds of distress, so he takes it as acceptance, lifting her bodily. Awkward and ungainly and it will slow him down. She is still crying, and clearly, secrecy is no longer an option. But he _wants to save her._ Wants to save her so badly.

They almost manage to clear the castle. But of course it wont be that easy.

"Leaf ninja," the man says. "How… interesting."

There are three of them. Jounin ranked. Not enough to cause him pause, if he hadn't been burdened. He slides the princess down, but there is no safe place to put her. The fire is spreading and the corridors are thin and cramped.

"The princess… yes, we were ordered to find her," the Snow ninja continues. He smirks. "Nadare Rouga, at your service."

Kakashi's ANBU team doesn't reply, sliding into a well practiced attack sequence. The chakra absorbing properties of the chakra armour aren't a surprise, but are still a nasty hindrance. It's been too many years since Kakashi has had to protect something helpless instead of just _killing_ and his tactics are all wrong. Ice shoots up everywhere, crystals and pillars and one catches the princess and holds her within. He hesitates for a fraction of a second, torn between the desire to save her and the fight.

It is only a second, because at heart he is a _killer._

He strikes the mans head from his shoulders and the ice fractures and breaks.

"Captain," Tiger says. "We'll finish up here. You take the princess and go."

They are a good team. They are uninjured. The opposition has not been _strong_ so far. There is no reason to believe they will not.

He gathers the princess and leaves, dodging parting shots from the Snow ninja and hearing the clang and clash of battle fade behind him. He spares a single parting glance and sees his team strong and powerful, holding their own.

It is the last time he ever sees them.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto's actions during Chapter 50, if you were curious.

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Naruto was the first one to notice Yukie. It totally makes sense, since there's only one of Shikako and Sasuke, whereas there's at least twenty of _him_ in the fight, and that makes him the most likely one to see her anyway, except Naruto is kinda, sorta keeping an extra eye on her because he _promised_ to keep her safe and she kinda freaked out in the last fight.

It's not like Naruto doesn't _understand_. He's freaked out about a few fights himself and Yukie would probably be better off if she had an awesome team to watch her back, because that _helps,_ it help a lot, and Naruto knows because he trusts his team to watch his back - even Sasuke, who isn't as much of a bastard as he thought, way back at the Academy.

So he was keeping an extra eye on her, which was kinda hard because he had to keep an eye on Sasuke and Shikako as well, _and_ keep fighting and he's pretty sure that without Shadow Clones he wouldn't have been able to manage it at all.

So when Yukie steps forward, hesitant and jerky, face about the same shade of white as the snow, instead of hiding with the actors like she's _supposed_ to be, Naruto knows that something is about to go wrong.

Has already gone wrong.

"Yukie!" He shouts, because the snow ninja have already seen her and maybe if she just _runs…_ "What are you doing?"

She lifts her chin in defiance, but against _him_ and not them, which is weird and just… it's just wrong. She's wrong.

"If you keep fighting, you will die," she says. "Just go home."

"No!" He snarls, and it seems to surprise her a lot. Naruto summons more clones, orange flooding the area around him and tries to reach her.

"I am what they want," she says. "If I go, the fighting will stop."

"That's your solution?" He scoffs. "Old man Sandayuu isn't just going to give up, just because you do. _We_ won't give up."

The pink haired snow ninja, the one they fought before, on the ice, pelts him with ice shards that impact heavily on the ground. He has to dodge, and when it's over, she has Yukie scooped up into her arms and is running for the train.

As she runs, she kicks a discarded kunai and it explodes into chakra smoke, unnoticed by anyone. But the reminder strikes deep into the back of Naruto's brain, past the anger and confusion, and hits straight into his determination. It takes seconds to transform himself, and a clone plucks him out of the air even before he falls. It feels weird to be a kunai, and weirder to be thrown, but he's done it before and it isn't hard.

The girl carrying Yukie darts inside the open door and he is thankful for the pure _brilliance_ of his clones throw. He doesn't want to hit her, in case he gets Yukie, and that weird armour might drain his chakra and wreck the transformation. That would be bad. But he needs to get on the train.

The sharp edge of his blade slices her shoulder as she clears the door and throws herself to the side as soon as she is in, and he and ten identical kunai impact the wall of the cabin.

The thud echoes inside his not-head and he kinda wants to groan. It doesn't _hurt,_ exactly, but it still doesn't feel nice.

"Close one, Fubuki," the blue haired guy that was fighting Kakashi-sensei says. He sounds kinda amused, which is a jerk thing to do when your team mate nearly gets stabbed.

Fubuki scoffs. "Like you weren't getting your ass kicked by Hatake."

The train starts moving, slowly at first then faster, and their banter is cut off when someone else clears his throat. "It's been ten years, Koyuki. Let me see your face."

That must be Dotou. He doesn't really look all that special, as far as Naruto can tell, with a flat, wide face and squished nose. But he's dressed in a heavy fancy kimono thing that looks pretty expensive from what Naruto's inexperienced eye can tell.

Yukie stands silently. She looks kinda small and scared, and Naruto wants to leap down there and help her. Except, he knows how good those three ninja down there are and even he doesn't think it's really going to work. And so no matter how much it burns - burns like sitting out _his own fight_ in the Finals - he has to wait.

His team is fine, he knows, because his clones have just finished dispelling. He wished at least one stuck around so he could tell them where he is now, but he's pretty confident they'll know. And he can't use jutsu in here, so it's not like he could _reply_ but still…

"Do you have the hexagonal crystal?" Dotou asks.

"Yes," Yukie says. Lying might not have helped very much, but Naruto is pretty damn sure he wouldn't have just _admitted it_.

"Good," Dotou says, sounding satisfied. "That crystal is the only thing that connects the Kazahana family as a whole. It's the key to the treasure."

That look… that look Naruto immediately dubs the 'crazy face'.

"A key?" Yukie asks, voice quiet.

"When I took over this country from your father, there was nothing left of the Kazahana family." Dotou starts pacing, short movements up and down the train car. "Sousetsu must have kept the treasure elsewhere. I looked for it and I finally found it. It's a massive weapon hidden in the Rainbow Glaciers. And I have found a keyhole that fits the hexagonal crystal. If I get a hold of the Kazahana weapon, our country will have the power to overcome the five shinobi countries!"

It isn't really anything that Kakashi-sensei hasn't told them, except more _real._ That guy is a jerk, killing his _brother_ just for some treasure. Some things, Naruto will never understand.

"A weapon…" Yukie says, eyes sinking down. "I see…"

"Will you hand it over, Koyuki?" Dotou asks. It isn't really a choice. If she says no, they'll just take it anyway.

Her hands twitch for a moment, before coming up and undoing the clasp at the back of her neck. She doesn't look up, not once.

Dotou takes it, but his glee vanishes into anger. "Don't try and fool me! This is just a fake!"

Yukie jerks. Naruto is kinda surprised too. "A fake? But I…" She swallows. "Kakashi Hatake."

Okay, now Naruto is lost.

"I see. He'd be able to switch it easily," Nadare says. "Should we return and fetch him?" He doesn't look that keen on the idea, and no wonder, because Kakashi-sensei was kicking his ass.

Dotou considers it, hand still clenched around the fake crystal. "They'll come after us," he says. "Be ready for him."

Naruto isn't going to let them trap his team. So he'll just have to trap their trap.

Or something.

Yukie looks like she's torn between hopeful and afraid, and the train is still rocking and no one is speaking so Naruto hunkers down to plan.

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The dungeons are freezing and dark and pretty much stereotypical dungeon. Naruto has clone spiders sneaking all around the castle, finding the ninja and exits and windows so he can get out.

He'll get Yukie, and they'll get out of here and meet up with Kakashi-sensei and then they'll work out what to do about the crystal and the weapon and Dotou…

Well, anyway. First Naruto has to get them out of here.

Finding Yukie isn't hard. Naruto is pretty sure she's _made_ to be obvious. Which makes sense because duh, what's a trap without bait.

There are guards around, but not _obviously_ around, so Naruto thinks he's got a bit of leeway.

"Sssh!" He hisses, before slinking out in front of her cell.

She starts but doesn't scream, which is good. Naruto starts investigating the lock, but its papered over with some kind of seal. He doesn't touch it, because if there's one thing that being on a team with Shikako has taught him, it's that seals can hurt. A lot.

"I…" Yukie stutters. "I thought that, if I just gave it to him, the fighting would end. But all he wants is to fight _more…_" She sounds completely miserable.

"He's a jerk," Naruto says, confident but quiet. He could maybe break one of the bars, see if she could slip out through the gap, but it would be loud and take time and there's a little voice at the back of his head that says _seal, touching, bad._ "You just gotta keep doing what you know is right. You can't give in to him. You see?"

She stared off into the distance. "'When Spring comes, you'll be able to see'," she quoted. "That's what my father said. 'Someday Spring will definitely come.' But there is no spring in this country. My father died, I ran away from this country and I decided to stop believing. I keep on running, and running away. I keep on telling lies, even to myself. I acted. But… for all my running, it never got me anywhere. I never… I never had anywhere to run _to_." She laughed bitterly, and it sounded like a sob.

"Then you just have to _make_ spring come," Naruto said and rolled his eyes. It was so obvious. He didn't see why people just didn't _get it._

Then he snapped his fingers. "I know how to get you out. Just hold still, okay?" He summoned a clone and it used the replacement jutsu to switch her out of the cell. Thankfully, there were no chakra blocking things on in the bars, or whatever, to stop him, which he totally didn't think about till after. The clone in the cell paused before dispersing itself like it was supposed to, and instead transformed itself into an identical copy of Yukie.

"Hey, good plan," Naruto said, with a nod. "Now come on, princess. Let's get out of here!"

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I don't know if I got Naruto's voice _quite_ right, but I did want to show what he was up to while the others were chasing after him.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: A bit of background for Chapter 61. I'm not that happy with this, but it might as well be put up.

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Tsunade cannot _quite_ explain the feeling that rises in her chest when she gets called down to the village gates with the news that two ninja from the high priority mission are limping home. She wouldn't explain it, even if she could, because she is the _Hokage_ and she must be strong, must be stoic, must not, must never show despair, but it is like the bottom of her stomach drops out, a curious mix of horror and despair and _please, no, no, no_-

She cant think what she is _pleading _for. Please not Naruto? Not the boy she gave her cursed necklace to, the bundle of sunshine and laughs that dragged her home. Please not the Uchiha boy that Orochimaru is so desperate to get his hands on? Please not Shikaku's twins, who have _so much_ potential? Please not the wild Inuzuka boy with the not-yet-grown nindog? Please not Inoichi's beautiful girl? Please not the Akimichi? Please not the Hyuuga? Please not Ibiki, because replacing him will be difficult?

All of the choices are _wrong_ and steeped in guilt. She can't _chose, _she can only think 'please, no' and hope there is something merciful in the universe.

Seeing them. Seeing Ibiki half walking, half being dragged… seeing Naruto…

There is relief.

_Naruto._

Then she closes her eyes and counts up the tally of the dead and feels just a little nauseous.

"Heya, Baa-chan," Naruto says, weary but not broken. "You gotta take Ibiki so I can get back to the others."

_Others?_ Tsunade thinks, and feels a stirring of hope. Just a tiny, fragile spark, but it's there.

"The mission is ongoing," Ibiki says. "The ambush was a failure. The enemies escaped with Sasuke Uchiha captive. The other members of the squad are in pursuit, led by Shikamaru Nara."

He looks awful, but the news is the best thing that she has heard since… well. For a long time. She _hasn't_ sent eight children to their deaths.

Yet.

She wants to get a squad of Jounin together, send the best backup that she has. Only she _can't_, because she needs everyone _here_ in the village. Konoha has too many enemies, and some of them are already inside her.

Tsunade _knows._ There is something rotten in Konoha. She just doesn't know _who._ She is fumbling blindly in the dark, trying to protect herself from an attack who's form she does not know.

Her eyes drift over the three Genin waiting anxiously by the gate, out over the traffic coming in.

And then she smiles.

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"Hokage-sama," Temari of Hidden Sand says respectfully. "We bring correspondence from Suna regarding the developments with Hidden Cloud."

"Of course," Tsunade says easily. That situation has to be worrying the old fogies in the desert. They don't have the forces for any kind of extended warfare, but with their own betrayal so recent they can't afford to get on Konoha's bad side either. "But first… how do you feel about taking a mission from the village of Konoha?"

The three straighten with interest.

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"I am going after them," Lee declares suddenly, staring into the distance. "Do not try and stop me, Tenten. This is something I must do."

"Stop you?" Tenten says, smiling grimly and tucking her scrolls away where she can easily reach them. "I'm coming with you."

The real surprise, though, is running into Hinata outside the gates. Her fingers twist together nervously, but her eyes are set and hard.

"This way," she says quietly.

Hinata is much better at using her Byakugan to track than to fight. It's a small thing, probably something she shouldn't be proud of, but she _is._ It makes her fit in Team Eight, makes Kurenai-sensei and Kiba and Shino _happy_ when she can find something kilometres away. She's proud of that ability now, as they race through the trees and the path her friends have taken might as well be laid with paving stones to her eyes.

They push fast and hard, remembering the state Ibiki had been in. All three of them dread what they will find.

"Neji-niisan is to the left," Hinata says, after they've passed the first ambush site. The damage is incredible. "He's fighting an earth ninjutsu user."

"I shall-" Lee says, bending his knees in preparation to spring away.

"No," Tenten says. "I'll go. If Neji is having trouble, it'll probably be a range thing." Unsaid is that a second Jyuuken user will do no good where the first has failed.

"Chouji is injured," Hinata says softly. "Shikamaru can't carry both him and the prisoner. But…" she trails off, eyes moving to a different target. "Shikako and Kiba are still fighting. They need help."

"Go ahead to help them," Lee says gravely. "I shall assist Shikamaru and then join you."

Hinata nods, fixes her gaze on the faces of her friends and leaps forward.

And then she's _flying._

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><p><em>.<br>_

_I will run, I will fly,_

_Chase the wind and touch the sky ~ Brave soundtrack_


	5. Chapter 5

Hinata, just post Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

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"Hinata-sama," Neji said quietly over breakfast. "Are you available for sparring? I would be interested in a demonstration of your technique."

Hinata flushed red as the weight of many gazes fell on her and fought not to fidget. Meals in the Hyuuga household were usually eaten in heavy silence. "I-" she stammered. "Of course, Neji-niisan."

She felt the disapproval in the air, though not one expression changed and ducked her head. Suddenly, she didn't feel hungry at all.

Stomach tied in knots, she followed Neji out into the practice yard located behind the main house. Her neck prickled with the knowledge that everyone was watching her, even as the shoji door slid closed behind her. In the house of the Hyuuga, one did not need to be present to be observed.

She swallowed, remembering the last time she and Neji had fought. "What did you want to do?"

"The technique that was mentioned at the briefing," Neji clarified. "Show me."

Hinata hunched her shoulders forward, unconsciously tapping her fingers together. "I-" she hesitated. She felt self-conscious under his intense stare, and doubt surged. Could she even do it again?

But… she didn't want to let him down. Neji-niisan had never asked her to train before, had never extended this hand of friendship to her. She wouldn't waste it.

"Hai." She nodded, stepping into the centre of the arena and steeled herself. Under the activated eye of her Byakugan, the world crystallised into focus. She would never have the depth of vision that Neji did, might not ever see tenketsu, but she had distance. She could see her father and Hanabi in the room behind them, several other members of the family still sitting at the table, could see them watching her. She could see through to the other side of the compound, the branch family women hanging washing on a line. She could see people, ninja and civilian, walking the streets of Konoha.

Sometimes, Hinata thought, it was no surprise she felt so very small when the world around her was so large. How could someone such as her affect all of that? And yet… people could.

Like Naruto.

_I never give up. That's my way of the ninja!_

And Hinata thought back, to what it had been like to use this technique, to know that _she_ was all that stood in the way of her friends, her teammates and death.

"Protection," she incanted softly. "Of the Eight Trigrams; Sixty Four Palms."

Blue streamers trailed from her fingers, bending and flexing around her. She twisted, reaching and stretching, creating a space of safety.

Neji observed coolly.

"Again. I will attack," Neji said, sinking into a fighting stance.

"No," Hinata said, surprised at the certainty in her own voice. "This is not an attack I will use on you." She swallowed. "Use kunai if you must test it."

She could hardly believe her own daring, to say that to him.

"Very well," Neji acquiesced. "Be ready."

There was no warning in his movements, but Hinata was ready as the set of kunai flew at her, arms dancing through their pattern once more.

The kunai hit and were flung back, deep gouges scratched into their metal surface.

Hinata flushed and felt like apologising.

"Again," Neji repeated.

This time he circled her, emptying his kunai pouch as he went.

Again, Hinata created her protection.

_He's aiming for the gaps in the lattice,_ she observed, watching the trajectory of each of his throws. Only twice had he seen the attack, and already he was searching for weakness.

_But you won't find it there,_ she thought. Because, in weaving the net, chakra had trailed from her hand, giving it direction and motion. And each adjacent stripe was created to be in the opposite direction of the one beside it; the chakra between the two pushing and scraping invisibly against each other, like waves lapping at each other. Each hole in the matrix, therefore, had four different movements; forwards and backwards, left and right, all swirling together. The stripes of the net were dangerous, but it was the seeming weak spot that was the most dangerous. Anything that tried to penetrate there would be destroyed.

"Hah!" She finished, pushing outwards, and all the material caught in the net exploded out. Neji dodged his returned kunai – and shrapnel – with ease.

"Impressive," he noted, eyes visibly on the scattered metal.

Then the shogi door slid open, and Hinata dropped her arms in mortification. There was an unspoken distaste of using weapons in the clan compound – it was unrefined, it was not _Jyuuken_ – and more than that, she had damaged the walls.

"Father!" she blurted out, bowing hurriedly. "I-"

She didn't want him to be angry at her, not so soon after he had told her he was disappointed in her 'reckless and foolish actions'.

_Father was worried,_ Hanabi's voice echoed in her head, but although she had the same sharp eyes as Neji – able to pick up the most minute twitch and facial expression – Hinata doubted her words.

"Tomorrow," Hiashi said, voice strangely contemplative. "I think you will return to training with Hanabi and I."


	6. Chapter 6

Occurs during Chapter 65.

* * *

><p>"Thank you!" Sakura says brightly, setting the vases of flowers down on the reception desk so she can take the papers the receptionist is offering her. "Just sign here, Chouji, okay?"<p>

It's good to see him up and walking again, Sakura thinks. Chouji is more of a 'friend of a friend' but he was one of the worst injured during that awful mission that all her classmates went on. They hadn't wanted to release him from hospital until he was eating solid food again, which had taken a while.

Ino had asked her to help shift all the various gifts that Chouji had accumulated. Most of them are flowers she'd brought herself, making arrangement after arrangement. Sakura hadn't quite understood her reasoning. "It's something I can _do,"_ Ino had said, comparing two seemingly identical flowers before discarding one. "The only thing that Orochimaru knows about flowers is if they're poisonous. I mean, I know that too, but I also know that they're _beautiful._"

It had seemed important to her though, so Sakura had helped.

"Here-" Sakura starts to say, before the front doors _slam_ open. She twists, automatically looking for the emergency, and watches as a girl staggers in. She's limping, Sakura catalogues automatically, has several lacerations on her arms and it almost seems like her skin is …_ pulsing_, twisting and distorting before black ink spreads across it and forces it back down.

She steps forward to help, even as Chouji gasps 'Tayuya!' and Ino cries 'look out!'

The girl snarls, hefting a sword that has blood dripping from the edge, and Sakura freezes. They're all weaponless, and she has _no idea what to do._

"I'm going to kill you, fatass," she snarls, lunging at Chouji.

Chouji ducks backwards, out of range of the wild swing.

"Leave him alone," Ino shouts. Her hands had automatically gone to her pouch, which just wasn't there. Sakura feels a surge of admiration; Ino will know what to do.

Chouji takes advantage of the distraction, rolling to his feet and catching the girl's sword arm in his grip. Even weakened, he's still _strong_, and if he can get the weapon off her…

They struggle against each other, Tayuya snarling and heaving punishing blows on his undefended body as he tries to get her to drop the sword. Chouji just grunts and takes it.

Beside her, Ino forms her hands into the triangle seal…

And freezes.

Sakura is only a trainee medic-nin. She hasn't been taught yet, about things like panic attacks and flashbacks. She hasn't been introduced to the concept that sometimes, it isn't a physical injury that stops you. To be fair, that's only a very small part of the training course. But she is smart, and she knows that _something is wrong._

Chouji is struggling. Ino is frozen.

The receptionist is only a civilian.

Sakura wastes half a second praying for someone to come and save them – someone, anyone! Even Lee! – but no one comes. What she does next, surprises even her.

Her hand grabs the glass vase on the desk, yanking it forward. Water slops onto the floor and the flowers spill out – a flash of blue catches her eye, _iris, heroism_ – and she hefts it in her grip. She takes aim, pulls back and lets fly.

The glass shatters as it impacts with the side of the kunoichi's head.

It stuns her, and Chouji wrenches the sword from her hand, sending it scattering across the floor.

Sakura is already in motion, grabbing the second vase with white knuckled hands. It takes a single spring, perfect Academy style, to bring her close to the two of them, and her whole body twits as she slams her improvised weapon into Tayuya's temple.

The girl drops like a stone.

Sakura is shaking with adrenaline and fear, hands bleeding from shattered glass, just beginning to realise – I did it, _I did it_ – when an ANBU with long purple hair grabs her by the arms and hauls her backwards.


	7. Chapter 7

Occurs during Chapter 65.

* * *

><p>"Tell me this wasn't a waste of time," Tsunade says as an ANBU removes Tayuya from the office.<p>

"Not entirely," Jiraiya says, and places a white mask on her desk. For a second, Tsunade thinks it's an ANBU mask, and is confused, but then her eyes begin to pick out the differences.

"Ne," she breathes. "Root. They're supposed to be disbanded."

"So we thought," Jiraiya replies grimly. "But it might explain a lot of things."

"I never liked him," Tsunade says, "but … treason? That's not Danzo. Always, his focus has been on making Konoha stronger." It might not _be_ Danzo though, just the continuation of his secret Black Ops group.

"But he never did agree with Sensei on what 'stronger' meant, and you have to admit," Jiraiya says, "he wasn't happy with you becoming Hokage."

Of Sarutobi's students, Tsunade is the one that believes most in altruism. Everything she has done, from founding the Medical Corps to her Jutsu inventions, lead back to helping others. And that is the kind of strength that men like Danzo mistake for weakness.

"He made a push for the Hat when Sensei was killed," Jiraiya says. "But Koharu and Homura weren't convinced. They're too old for war, they said."

Tsunade smirks. "Proof that age brings some wisdom at least."

"It does raise troubling questions though," Jiraiya continues. "Was he trying to get rid of the Sound prisoners because they knew something, or for Orochimaru? Neither of the options is a good one, but …"

Unsaid was that one was far worse.

"And if he is, how far back does it go?" Tsunade adds, mind ticking over. "It casts new shadows over the Exam Invasion, for one. "

"And certain other events," Jiraiya finishes. "Because if things you didn't order were happening in the village, who would you first look to for the culprit?"

"The clans," Tsunade admits. "Large groups of internally loyal shinobi, with regular meeting times and locations… free from observation or regulation… it's almost the perfect set up for a coup."

And she has been looking at them, wondering…

Jiraiya runs a hand through his hair. "It just keeps getting worse and worse."


	8. Chapter 8

Anko knows something is up when she catches herself buying a dozen boxes of dango. To be sure, she _likes_ dango, likes the taste and the texture, and the way the skewers can be used as a weapon in a pinch.

But every shinobi has gut senses, instinct that tells them something isn't right, even if you can't see it. For some, its bones that ache where they've been broken, an itch on the back of the neck, a heavy feeling in the pit of the stomach; Anko gets cravings for dango.

She was eating dango when Orochimaru returned to Konoha, enough skewers to make a leaf symbol on a tree and make her stomach queasy. She'd tried to drag him into death with her then, still able to taste sugar on her lips.

_It wouldn't,_ she sometimes thinks, _have been a bad way to die._

She wonders what this batch of dango heralds, even as she slaps the ryo down on the counter and waves off the change. In a few hours it might not matter at all.

"Anko," Inoichi says, as she ducks out from under the noren of the stall, batting the fabric away with one hand. He sounds casual, if a bit tired, but a quick glance tells her he's in the Intel Division uniform not standard blues, and a second glance tells her there's - one, two, threefour - four ANBU on this street alone. Given the current state of affairs… that's four too many.

She feels a sharp surge of fear and covers it with a bite of dango.

"Yo, Inoichi," she answers, because she is _Anko Mitarashi_ and she is not afraid. "You keep putting that uniform back on and you wonder why no one buys the 'I'm retired' line?"

"Can't pass this one off to anyone else," he says regretfully. "Walk with me?"

She wonders what would happen if she says 'no'. Four ANBU. Inoichi. There are three more shinobi on this street, probably twelve within shouting distance. There are countless civilians, wandering about unaware of the danger. They are near the heart of Konoha; she'd never make it to the walls.

But Anko has done this dance before and she resigns herself to doing it again.

_What is it this time? _She thinks. _Do you think I let them in? Do you think I waited out the Exams, fought him, almost died and would still-_

It hurts, a bit. Because Inoichi was the one to clear her from suspicion, to give her a chance in those early days when _sleeper agent_ was only slightly kinder than _spy _and _traitor._ She knows she was put into the Intelligence Division because they're good at playing spies, just enough wrong information mixed in with the right stuff to catch anyone who thinks about passing it along. One year, then two, then the sharp looks had started to fade and she'd worked herself up the ladder, gaining strength and respect where she could because too many hours at the training field brought sideways glances and shooting fire up her neck-

It hurts, a little, to know they still suspect her after all that.

"Sure," she says, instead, and they walk a slow circuit back to headquarters. Inoichi doesn't rush, doesn't act like she's being taken into custody, and she's glad for the illusion. Once this is over - again - she'll be able to walk the streets with no more whispers than normal. "I heard about your kid. Sorry."

Heard_, _but not _heard_, the details were slim, but Inoichi had been called the Hospital to help and he was no medic-nin. She'd heard, too, that Ibiki had been leading that mission, and had been admitted long before the prisoners were dragged back to Konoha. The whole thing was very curious.

Inoichi accepts her words with a silent nod and they reach their destination. He doesn't even take her weapons off her, or her dango, leading her into a briefing room rather than an interrogation cell.

_Sloppy, Inoichi,_ she thinks. Close quarters, one on one, she has a definite advantage. Wouldn't be able to go much further than that, but still. _Sloppy._

"So what's it this time?" she asks lazily, licking her fingers clean of the sweet, sticky sauce. "Spying? Sleeper agent doesn't make much sense anymore."

He barely blinks. "I'm not here to question your loyalty, Anko," he says.

The glance she cuts him is sly and cats eyed, amused and disbelieving. "Really."

Inoichi isn't perturbed. "I have full faith in you as a shinobi of Konoha, Anko."

_Anko, Anko, Anko, _her name echoes in the repetitions. _Who else do you think is here?_

"Then what _is_ it about?" she asks.

And that's where he hesitates. "We have," he says slowly. "Some new information about Orochimaru's curse seal."

That was not what she expected at all. Her shoulder throbs.

"New information," she says flatly. "That wouldn't need all this."

Not unless -

Not unless -

She has twelve wooden skewers, a full kunai pouch and leg holster. Her chakra is a near maximum capacity. Against Inoichi, one on one, she has the advantage, and she knows the halls of headquarters better than the back of her hand -

"Anko," Inoichi says sternly. "You are my comrade. You are a valued shinobi of Konoha. We will not throw you away. Do you understand me?"

Almost against her will, a wry smile quirks her lips. She still can't fool him. "So tell me, Inoichi. Why am I here." It isn't a question.

"I want," he says. "To mind walk you."

Her breath catches. "Do you have a warrant?" To get the Hokage to sign off on that… it was _invasive_… reserved only for the most important interrogations.

She remembers the feeling, from those dark and scared days, fumbling to find footing when it seemed like the world had been ripped out from underneath her. Stripped open and hollowed out, someone sifting through everything that made her _her._

"No," he answers. "Not yet. I could get one, but I'd prefer if this were voluntary."

_Voluntary. If you have no choice is it still-_

"Why?" she asks, not quite able to squish all the anguish out of her voice. One hand rises to fist on her collarbone, pressing down against the burning. "What do you think I _know?_ I would have _told you-_"

His eyes are sharp on her hand, and she forces it back down on to the table even though the burning sensation hasn't abated. It hasn't been this bad in _years._

"I don't want to look through your memories," Inoichi says. "We think… we think there is a fragment of Orochimaru in the seal."

She blinks at him, not quite … not quite…

"Oh my god."

The thought sinks in slowly, like a heavy weight pressing against wet ground. It makes her a little sick, thinking, _all this time…_

Then the implications come. She's heard about the body swapping ninjutsu, whispered about in bars and around water coolers, giving Orochimaru the place of a horror or a nightmare… knowing that could be _her_ …

And then beyond that…

"Fucking bastard!" She exclaims, slamming a fist onto the table. She's absurdly grateful that Inoichi doesn't flinch, doesn't call for backup. "Can he see?"

"We don't know," Inoichi answers. "Best case scenario is that its dormant."

"Worst case scenario," Anko finishes grimly, because she's a shinobi and she can't _not_ take this to its worst possible outcome. "He knows everything I know."

Working, scraping her way up to where she is. The Intelligence Division because getting stronger makes them afraid. Every scrap of information -

"Son of a bitch," she repeats. "Sleeper agent. Fuck."

She didn't need to be. Not if _not_ being one was more successful.

Anko breathes out, fighting to regain her calm. He wasn't going to win. She wouldn't let him. "Alright," she says, looking Inoichi in the eye. "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>Takes place sometime after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.<p>

Yes, I'm still working on the next chapter. :)


	9. Chapter 9

This one fits in just after Chapter 74

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* * *

><p>.<p>

"-And that's when the seal broke," Anko concluded. "There might be some suppressant effects remaining but the transformation was able to occur and she gave a verbal acknowledgement of the memories."

As far as make-work assignments went, guarding Yakumo was hardly the worst mission she could have been given, after being shuffled out of the Intel Division. It was almost like having a student, even if Kurenai had got to her first, and required enough skill to feel like she really _was_ the first choice for it to be assigned to.

"I see," Tsunade said, absorbing the report. "And afterwards?"

"No major negative reactions," Anko said. "Might take a few days for it to all sink in; I'll keep a closer eye on her for a while." Not that she wasn't already, but chances of an incident had just bumped up from 'potential' to 'highly likely'. "I get the intention to protect her from it and everything, but it might have been better to reveal the truth before she worked up a whole head of steam about destroying those responsible. That kind of hatred is difficult to erase once it gets going."

Tsunade made a non-committal noise. "We work with what we have," she said. "Try and direct her to non-destructive outlets, if you can. Anything else?"

Anko hesitated, then shrugged to herself. Why not? "She's still caught up on the idea of being a ninja. I mean, it was resentment for not being allowed, mostly, but it might be something to suggest a few months down the line."

Tsunade folded her fingers into a steeple. "I see. And you would not be totally adverse to taking a student, I imagine."

Anko felt a swell of pride. "Not totally. Sure. If there's no one else." It might be a consolation prize, but it was a good one. There might have been some Jounin that resented having to take on students, but it was generally considered to be a worthy cause, contributing to the next generation and all that. Wasn't something Anko had ever expected to get.

Tsunade nodded, almost absently. "And what about the rest of them?"

Anko hummed, arranging her thoughts in order. "Give them a few years to grow into themselves and that'll be one hell of a team. Hyuuga is leaps and bounds from where she was in the last exam. More confident, more settled. Yamanaka didn't ring any warning bells – doesn't look like the physical signs are going to fade, but if all she gets out of tangling with _him_ is minor cosmetic damage then she needs to start buying lottery tickets. She's definitely the social foundation there; kept all the girls on track. Got the makings of a good leader."

"And Nara?" Tsunade asked.

"Nara," Anko repeated, frowning slightly. "Nara is a tricky little shit; sharp as a tack. Pretty sure she didn't know as much about Yakumo as you thought she did."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow at that.

"She reassessed on the fly pretty well, though," Anko acknowledged. It was a good sign. Sometimes, you were wrong. Everyone was at some point. It was just that, in Anko's experience, the smarter you were, the less used to dealing with _being wrong_ you were. And that could shoot you in the foot when you least needed it. "She's come down with a bad case of nerves since the Chunin Exams," she added, because that was slightly worrying. It had only been a few months. That wasn't a long period for a good ninja to fall apart. Then again, if half the rumours about her missions had been even remotely on mark, she probably was expected to have a few nerves.

"I'm aware of that," Tsunade said. "What else?"

Anko tapped her fingers thoughtfully on her chin. "She broke Yakumo's genjutsu," she said. "Or, no. Not broke. There was a noticeable moment when the genjutsu did break. But she was able to function while it was still active. I'm not entirely certain how she managed it," she admitted. "But about half way through she was able to run and fight with no loss of reflexes or reaction times. It put a bit of a strain on her, clearly, but it wasn't chakra intensive or stamina draining."

"Huh," Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair. "Kakashi was fairly positive in her ability to disrupt genjutsu, but I didn't expect it to extend so far."

"I think she was a bit cocky about it," Anko said. "Came out of it a lot more shaken than when she went in. Suppose it's better to have a wakeup call like that on friendly territory though."

"Most people are until the first time they encounter a serious genjutsu master," Tsunade agreed, but with a slight frown. "Alright, thank you for your report."


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto's POV from chapter 70. I didn't much like this when I wrote it, but I can't remember why now. So uh, here it is, slightly delayed.

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* * *

><p>.<p>

Naruto likes a lot of things because liking things is better than hating things. He likes ramen and orange and toads and plants and training and –and a million other things! The world is full of things he likes! But at the top of the list of things he likes, are his precious people.

Because nothing, not orange, not ramen, not training, makes him feel quite so happy as when he has friends.

And Naruto _really_ doesn't like it when people hurt his friends. When Haku seemed to kill Sasuke, Naruto felt like he was going to explode with anger, something deep inside starting to burn with unending fire.

Seeing Shikako fall, a sword lodged through her chest in a way even Naruto can tell is fatal, is a million times worse.

If it was him… if it was him, he would heal. But Shikako isn't him. And there's no gentle Haku here, to prove the attack a lie.

The smell of blood is real.

Naruto _screams_, rage and grief and anger. So much anger. It's an inhuman sound, and it wakes the beast within him. Kyuubi beats against his stomach, red chakra spilling out into the air. Everything is red.

He slams into Haido, shredding skin and smashing bone as he rams him into the wall. His clawed hand clutches a throat, blood starting to run where the sharp points of his nails break the skin, and drags him _up_, ascending the wall like gravity has no hold on him.

Haido only just starts to struggle, a blast of energy leaving his hand and slams into him.

Naruto _snarls._

Haido smashes against the roof, chunks of stone blasting away under the force of his body. His skin is crackling and burning where the red chakra lashes at him, seeming to melt beneath Naruto's hand.

Naruto feels nothing but grim, vicious satisfaction.

He doesn't even care when Haido transforms. Nothing is going to help him now. Not with this red_red_ anger bubbling in his veins and spilling out of his skin. Not with Shikako-chan dying behind him. _Nothing_ is going to help him.

Nothing does.

Haido dies but the anger doesn't go away.

Naruto slams his fist into the wall, again, and again. His heart feels too big, like it's going to burst, pounding away in his chest. Everything _burns._

Then, suddenly, there's bright light and he's falling.

.

* * *

><p>.<p>

"What?" Naruto splutters, hauling himself out of the cold and freezing water. The place is familiar, the cavernous sewer that houses the Kyuubi. Except it's not. The ceiling, the walls… they radiating light.

Everything is pure and clear. The water, usually rank and dark, sparkles around his feet. The corridor doesn't seem so huge and intimidating when he can see all the corners and edges.

"Hey! Why'd you pull me in here?!" He turns to demand of the fox. Except, where there is usually nothing but solid blackness, the cage is lit too.

Naruto realises he has never actually _seen_ the Kyuubi before. He's seen its teeth, of course, when it had snapped at him, and eyes where it had glared. It had tried to claw him, once. And there was always that noxious red chakra seeping out, flickering like fire and smoke.

_It actually… kinda does look like a fox,_ he thinks, surprised.

"I," it rumbles. "Did no such thing. If you must blame anyone, blame _her._" It drops its muzzle down to rest on its paws, tilting its head towards the wall. Lips pull back over long teeth, though the Kyuubi doesn't move.

"Huh?" Naruto frowns. _Her?_ He takes a step closer, puffing up to begin to argue with the fox, then notices a strange shimmering between the bars. He reaches out and brushes his fingers against it.

_-we are- this too shall pass (time moves on) – don't leave us! – live/love - we exist we have always existed we will always exist _we are –_ look at it all it goes on forever – to hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour – __**I don't want to go**_

"Shikako," Naruto says numbly. His hand falls away. "I have to go back!"

"That is not your friend any longer," the Kyuubi says. Its eyes are half lidded, as though the light has sapped all its strength away. The giant tails twitch once, twice, and still. "No mortal thing can hold that power."

And Naruto had felt that, when he touched it. It was still Shikako, still his _friend_, but she was a small and tiny part of something so vast… she would get lost in it, vanish like a drop of blood in a lake of water. Be washed away, as though she were something unimportant.

Naruto clenches his fists together, nails biting into his palms. Shikako was his first friend – the friend that he'd never had to prove himself to, or earn respect from. "I have to help her," he says, feeling powerless. "I have to-"

What can he do?

His breath shudders in and out. If it were him, he would heal. "You-" Naruto starts. "Could you heal her?"

"Why," the Kyuubi breathes, "would I want to do that?"

Naruto nearly screams at the dismissive response. The light – Shikako's light – curls around him like a reassuring hug. It should make things better, but all it doesn't, not where it matters.

"Aren't there things you want to protect?" Naruto asks, almost helplessly. He can't imagine the Kyuubi having friends, or family…

The Kyuubi huffs. "No."

And there is something in the word. Something that echoes in the deep places of Naruto's heart. Something familiar. "It sounds lonely," he says. For the first time, he wonders what it would be like to be in the seal. Alone, all the time. Dark and dank. It is not a nice place.

"Lonely," the Kyuubi mocks. "I have been trapped for decades, barely tasted freedom before it is snatched from my grasp again. I have been torn apart, so I am barely half of myself. I have been _enslaved._ And you think what concerns me is loneliness?"

"Yeah," Naruto says. He's not entirely sure he knows what the Kyuubi is talking about – or that he wants to know, truthfully – but he knows loneliness. Even for something like the Kyuubi. "Hey… what's your name? You have to have one, right?"

On any other occasion, Naruto might have been proud of managing to surprise the Kyuubi. But it's the last thing on his mind right now. The Kyuubi heaves a great, shattering sigh, that makes the water surge and the floor buck underfoot.

"My name is Kurama," it says. "And your friend cannot be saved."


	11. Chapter 11

Occurs during Chapter 83, just after Team 7 returns to Konoha.

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* * *

><p>.<p>

Sai kneels patiently in the room beneath the village, face as blank as a mask. It's a natural expression for him now, after so many years, and yet today it takes so much effort to hold. It is lucky that Danzo-sama has not yet arrived, or his lapse would be noticed and punished.

_A shinobi is empty of feelings,_ he recites internally, the words of a ROOT mantra a familiar as breathing, from hours and hours of repetition. _A shinobi is empty of thoughts. A shinobi is an empty vessel through which the will of the village is carried out._

And even as he falls into the old patterns, breathing steady and body immobile… he cannot picture the ninja he has met on this mission as empty vessels. If Sai is an ink painting, the barest of black outlines, ready to be turned to any purpose Danzo-sama so desires, then they are all made of colour. Bright yellows and oranges and purples, bold greens and browns and blues, a riot of colours and noise.

The tapping of Danzo's cane is warning enough that Sai freezes that thought, and hides it away.

"Report," Danzo says. There is no need for him to offer greetings or preface the order with unnecessary information the way the others have. Sai is well trained. He knows why he is here.

Dutifully, Sai recites what occurred over the week he was travelling with the two members of Team Seven. It is not his most promising report, and there are… some details that remain unspoken. They are not important, he reassures himself, that is the only reason he does not mention them to Danzo-sama. What use does the head of ROOT have for campfire conversations and useless digressions? All the important information is shared.

"People with the First Hokage's bloodlimit?" Danzo interrupts, both hands coming to rest on the handle of his cane. "Are you certain that's what she said?"

"It is," Sai confirms. "We suspected as much with the sudden appearance of a forest within the Land of Wind."

Danzo makes a sound that is not quite a scoff. "There are many skills and powers in this land, boy. For something like this, 'to suspect' is a different creature than 'to know'."

"They made no further reference to an artefact or weapon," Sai continues. "And adhered closely to the classified nature of the information. I could not gather more."

Danzo nods. "And your opinion on the team?"

"They are unpredictable, easily distracted and extremely prone to disregarding mission directives," Sai says. "I fail to see how they have remained in the Hokage's good graces."

"That woman's whims are unfathomable," Danzo says. "The Jinchuriki?"

"He has considerable skill," Sai says. "But is insubordinate and easily distracted. His actions in the field did not always align with the mission directives, and he provided insufficient reasoning for deviations. I believe he will be an asset, so long as he is given little leeway to act counter to orders."

Danzo taps his fingers together, thoughtfully. "That concurs with my own assessments. And the Nara girl?"

Sai smiles, the expression beautifully empty. "There was nothing of note about her. She spent a lot of time talking about feelings. I don't believe she would make a very effective ninja."

"It's always the case with kunoichi," Danzo says dismissively. "They have weak hearts. It's a shame, she has good pedigree. Nara have the capacity for great things if they aren't coddled and indulged."

Sai waits a second, to ensure he is not interrupting as he continues. "If it is necessary to continue my mission, then Naruto has requested the Hokage that I rejoin the team. It seems I made quite the impression on him."

"Excellent," Danzo says. "You have done well."

Praise in ROOT is a rare and fleeting creature. It is often the only reward for a mission well completed, and the shinobi here know to value its worth.

And for some reason… Sai wishes it hadn't been given at all.


	12. Chapter 12

People have been asking what Sasuke is up to in Konoha. I imagine it goes a little something like this:

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* * *

><p>.<p>

Sasuke glared at the ninja drawing straws.

"I had him for gate duty," Hayate Gekko coughed imploringly. (Sasuke was 100% certain by now that he was faking it for sympathy.) "We had two imposters, six cases of smuggled contraband, three wounded and an Anbu patrol stop by."

"That was just your girlfriend," Aoba said, and was promptly smacked over the head by the nearest two Special Jounin. "Ouch! Sheesh, everyone knows already!"

Sasuke filed the information away, but didn't stop scowling. The Special Jounin of Konoha, he was quickly discovering, were a bunch of neurotic, superstitious people with a propensity for avoiding work.

So, exactly what he should have expected after having Kakashi for a Jounin Sensei.

He glared harder.

"No dammit!" Genma Shiranui said, biting down on his senbon and making it waggle angrily. "Not again!"

Raidou – who was actually the one that had switched the straws at the last moment and landed his friend with the shortest; Sasuke had _seen him do it_ – patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Tough luck, man. But it can't be as bad as yesterday. I never want to hear an Aburame that excited about an infestation of flesh eating beetles ever again. There was giggling. It was terrible."

"I don't even want to know," Genma said flatly. "The old Orochimaru hideout we stumbled across was bad enough. I'm going to have nightmares. _Do you know what it takes to give me nightmares?"_

_He_ didn't even have a Sharingan etching the memory into his brain, so he had no room to complain, in Sasuke's opinion.

"Hey, telling Anko you trashed it might get you a date, though," Raido said, encouragingly. "Or at least, she won't laugh in your face."

"You're real supportive, buddy," Genma said sourly, sticking his hands in his pocket. He slouched away from them, and the laughter.

Sasuke uncrossed his arms and pushed off the wall of the Jounin Station. "You done?" he asked, arching an eyebrow to convey how utterly unimpressed he was. As far as he could see, _every_ patrol went to shit eventually, and their insistence that it was only the ones that Sasuke was on was ludicrous. As if that would happen.

"You're a grumpy little bad luck charm, you know that, right?" Genma asked rhetorically. "Next time I see Kakashi, I'm going to kill him."

Sasuke snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"Just … we're going to have a calm, quiet day. Nothing is going to go wrong," Genma said. He made a ward sign with his left hand, just to make sure.

Ten minutes later, there was an explosion.

It wasn't, Sasuke reflected, _totally_ his fault.


	13. Chapter 13

Set during Chapter 87, Shikaku's return home.

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><p>.<p>

"She's your daughter," Kasuga says.

Shikaku would really like to groan. "I only ever hear that when she's causing trouble," he laments.

Kasuga gives him a humourless smile. "That's the point," he says.

Shikaku does appreciate that his clansmen was willing to watch over the twins while he was away, especially as it ended up being for so long, but he doesn't feel that he will appreciate this conversation nearly so much.

He takes a sip of green tea, and guiltily wishes it were something stronger. "So."

Kasuga pauses for a long time, despite having been the one to bring the topic up. He looks… troubled. Not annoyed. Troubled and worried.

Shikaku can feel a headache building already. His return to Konoha has been far more stressful than he'd imagined, out on the border and inventing hundreds of ways that Hidden Cloud might try and attack them.

"She came to me with serious concerns about the spiritual side effects of the jutsu," Kasuga says. "I believe she was experiencing them. Yet within weeks, all the signs went away. Apparently."

Shikaku absorbs this. He drinks more tea. "Apparently?"

"According to her," Kasuga says. "There is no longer a problem." He doesn't sound like he believes it. "I haven't been able to tell otherwise. But … Her progress has been alarming."

"That's always been the case," Shikaku says, because his daughter can be frightening when she decides to do something. She is on par with adults in the clan on more than one matter, learns and absorbs information in startling fashion. Sometimes it seems she already _knows_ and merely needs reminding.

"Train with her," Kasuga says. "You'll see. It's not normal." He shakes his head. "I don't know what she's doing, Shikaku. It's nothing I've ever seen before, and I can't get a word out of her."

"I will," Shikaku says. He sighs and stretches his legs out off of the veranda. Shikako, always Shikako. This is only one of the many conversations he has had since his return. His little dearheart, always at the centre of trouble. And nothing more so than now, while he has been too far away to offer help to her.

He feels like he has failed, and it is – as always – a terrible feeling.

"Kids grow up," Kasuga says, sympathetically. "They don't stay small forever."

"It's not meant to be so fast," Shikaku murmurs back.


	14. Chapter 14

Gives a bit of background to where Gaara is coming from before the second Chunin Exams.

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><p>.<p>

Gaara has many things on his mind as he returns from Konoha for the second time. It's a different sort of contemplation, yet again his foundation has been rocked. And again Konoha is the cause.

"Yo, ah, you alright there man?" Kankurou said, shifting his shoulders awkwardly. "You look a little gloomy."

The fear that they have always shown him – that he has _caused_ in them – has diminished but is not entirely absent. But they're trying. They're reaching out, trusting his word over his history and trying.

So Gaara tries in return. "Hidden Leaf," he says. "Is a strange place."

"Heh, you can say that again," Kankurou says fervently. "I'm so glad Suna doesn't rotate shinobi through the Academy like that. Little brats kept trying to put their grubby fingers all over Karasu."

Which would have ended very poorly for everyone involved, Gaara surmises. He is aware that Kankurou coats his puppets in contact poison, like most puppet masters.

Temari snickers. "Told you you should have left it at the hotel."

"Like hell," Kankurou objects. "I didn't see you leaving your fan behind."

The bickering, that Gaara could do without.

It isn't until Gaara catches his sidelong look and something _shifts_ that he realises 'he's worried about me'. It takes longer still for the thought to coalesce into 'he's worried about something happening _to me'._

"How'd your talk with that Uzumaki kid go?" Temari asks, very casually.

"Well," Gaara says. Naruto had been, after the initial surprise, strangely welcoming. He had expected hostility, or maybe – after he had proved his change of heart and willingness to understand their values – wary acceptance. The difference had been as great as expecting a closed door and finding open arms.

But although Naruto had been just as full of belief, as full of fire and strength as before, he hadn't had the answers that Gaara had sought. It had been… a disappointment, yet at the same time, strangely relieving. If Naruto, who had shown Gaara this truth, had not had the answers, then did anyone?

Perhaps_,_ Gaara reflects, it was one of those things which could not be explained. Perhaps everyone sought their own answers and in the end built something that they could live with.

_I don't think anyone should get hurt._

_I made a choice. I thought it would be better this way._

The same, but different. The girl who had spoken about _mercy._ The girl who had sought him out – and Gaara can count on one hand the number of people who have done that of their own free will and still have fingers left – and warned him. Offered help.

And that. Well. That is another matter that consumes his attention.

"Kankurou. Your puppets… they were designed by Sasori of the Red Sand."

Kankurou blinks at the sudden change in topic. "Ah, yeah. That's right. Most of the Puppet Corps stuff follows his designs. Either that or Chiyo-baa-sama's and his build off hers as well."

"Tell me," Gaara requests.

The look Kankurou exchanges with Temari is baffled, but hides a tiny spark of pleasure. "Sure, man. What did you want to know?"

Kankurou is a wealth of knowledge on the topic, for all he pretends he is not the scholarly type. Gaara listens and absorbs, sifting through mentions of joint types, locks and catches, through poison names and descriptions, through Kabuki references and inspiration drawn from literature, and draws an incomplete picture of the man that apparently wants him dead.

When they reach Suna, he fills the picture further, with personnel files he probably shouldn't be reading but no one can keep him out of.

Then he goes outside the walls of Suna, to the old house on the hill and waits.

Gaara is the desert. And the desert is patient.

Eventually, the door creaks open and an old woman steps out. "Come to get your revenge?" She asks, voice dry and mocking. "Think old Chiyo should have never sealed you away? He thought that, by the end."

The reference to his father blows past him. That man is dead.

_Revenge,_ he thinks, and is tempted. If he did not have Shukaku, would he have had a better life? But Gaara cannot even imagine what that would be like, beyond that Temari and Kankurou would be there, less fearful.

Perhaps, at one time, the death of this woman would have validated his existence.

Shukaku howls within its cage.

_Mercy,_ he thinks and knows his answer.

"No," Gaara rasps. "Revenge will not achieve anything. I don't mean to kill you."

Not that it would be easy. Gaara is not fooled by her age. Chiyo-baa-sama is to be feared still.

"Hmph," she says. "Then why are you here?"

"Your grandson," he says, and knows he has her when her strong, deadly fingers go still.

Gaara does not, truly, understand the bonds of family. His are too small and lacking to give him experience. But Chiyo went after Sasori, once, just after he left. And she returned less an arm and refused to go after him again, no matter her orders. He does not think that refusal was from _fear._

"He will come here," he tells her. "He wishes to have Shukaku." There is little he can tell her, little he knows, but Sasori is the bait he dangles for her, while he himself is the bait for Sasori.

And he will need Chiyo, he thinks, if he wishes to make his own path in Suna.

"So certain you'll be in Suna when he hits?" Chiyo cackles, dismissively. "A mission would be a far better time to strike. When you're alone, or have only a team for backup. What's my incentive there."

"I would stay in the village."

Chiyo snorts. "That's never going to happen. You're a weapon; you won't be laid to rest to gather dust. You'll be lucky if you _see_ the village in the next three years."

Gaara goes silent. It is not agreement.

Chiyo regards him speculatively. "Go on. Say it," she goads. There is a peculiar kind of glee in her expression.

"There is one position that would keep me in the village."

Her wheezing laughter rings out into the night.

"Kazekage."


End file.
